Have you ever come across a bumble bee in distress and wondered how to help? Did you ever find a bumble bee that seemed grounded and unable to fly? Have you felt the urge to do something? Because bumble bee populations are shrinking, people want to help. But it’s hard to help an individual bee […] Read more

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation recently partnered with several state organizations to create the Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas, a citizen science project to monitor bumble bee populations. I was fortunate to participate in a recent training in Wenatchee, Washington where I learned about bumble bee biology, identification, and survey techniques. Graduates of the […] Read more

The gorgeous creature shown below is the black-tailed bumble bee, a name that perplexes me no end. I concede that this bee does indeed have a black butt, but is that the standout feature here? When you glance at this bee, is that the first thing you notice? While the name gives you no insight […] Read more

Bumble bees are among the earliest bees of spring, so it won’t be long before beekeepers begin to hear the inevitable questions. Honey bee keepers, it seems, are expected to know all the answers, so here’s a short refresher to get you started. Where do bumble bees go in winter? Bumble bee colonies do not […] Read more

It’s official: the US Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the rusty-patched bumble bee, Bombus affinis, as an endangered species. This bee, in the family Apidae, is the first insect from the continental United States to make the list. Last year, seven species of Hylaeus were the first bees to make the list, but they […] Read more

Several of you have reported seeing many dead bumble bees on flowers, patios, or lying on the ground. This type of observation pleases me no end. It gives me hope to see so many people noticing wild bees and wondering about them. As it happens, it is completely normal to see lots of dead bumble […] Read more

I love this photo sent in by Aram Frangulyan of Auburn, WA. The flower is so bright and cheerful, it makes me happy about fall. Aram writes: Snapped a bumble bee on a dahlia at the Point Defiance rose garden on September 7th. Did not think that dahlias were all that interesting to the pollinators, but apparently some […] Read more

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The Beekeeper’s Handbook

The Valkyrie Long Hive

Bee Wise

Bee-yond Bees

Bees are more than a hobby;
they are a life study,
in many respects a mirror
of our own society.

—William Longgood

Why Honey Bee is Two Words

Regardless of dictionaries, we have in entomology a rule for insect common names that can be followed. It says: If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly, and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddicefly, and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an aphislion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; “honeybee” is equivalent to “Johnsmith.”

—From Anatomy of the Honey Bee by Robert E. Snodgrass

State Insects

The non-native European Honey Bee is the state insect of:

Arkansas

Georgia

Kansas

Louisiana

Maine

Mississippi

Missouri

Nebraska

New Jersey

North Carolina

Oklahoma

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

Vermont

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Not one native bee is a state insect. The closest relative of a North American native bee to make the list is the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, the state insect of New Mexico.

iNaturalist

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Mission Statement

Honey Bee Suite is dedicated to honey bees, beekeeping, wild bees, other pollinators, and pollination ecology. It is designed to be informative and fun, but also to remind readers that pollinators throughout the world are endangered. Although they may seem small and insignificant, pollinators are vital to anyone who eats.